Abu Dhabi: The UAE on Thursday announced a new milestone in the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA).
The EMA team has completed the concept review of a lander, which will be aboard the MBR Explorer, and is designed to land on and study asteroid Justitia.
This phase is a key stage in the mission as it sheds light on the latest details and developments in the lander’s design, ensures the mission’s safety and success, achieves its scientific and technical objectives, EMA stated.
The EMA aims to explore seven asteroids, flying past six and culminating in a rendezvous with (269) Justitia, one of the most puzzling objects in the belt located between Mars and Jupiter.
‘MBR Explorer’, the mission’s spacecraft named after His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, is scheduled to blast off to space in March 2028 for the “world’s first multiple-asteroid tour and landing mission.”
Emirati space startups
The meeting was attended by the Standing Review Board, headed by Mark Lanton, senior Engineering Advisor. The Board included experts from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), strategic partners, knowledge partners, EMA’s Science Team, and officials and staff from the UAE Space Agency. During the meeting, Emirati space start-ups presented an introduction to the mission, concept of the operation, science objectives, and team resources.
Mohsen Al Awadhi, Mission Director - EMA, said: “We are committed to providing a supportive environment to create qualitative economic opportunities for Emirati and international start-ups based in the UAE, in addition to accelerating the growth of innovation and advanced technology companies in the UAE’s space sector.”
Al Awadhi added: “Innovation and advanced technology are strategic pillars to achieve our ambitious goals in space exploration. Allocating 50 per cent of the development of the mission to private sector companies reflects our commitment to strengthening strategic partnerships with the private sector to lead transformation in the space sector.”
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Planet X Challenge finalists
Al Awadhi highlighted that the designs presented during the lander mission concept review are those that reached the final stage of the Planet X Challenge, which was launched during the Dubai Airshow 2023, representing a productive example for stimulating innovation and international cooperation in space exploration.
Hamed Abdulla Al Hashmi, EMA Payload and Lander Manager, said: “This project demonstrates collaboration between the UAE Space Agency and Emirati space start-ups. Through this partnership, we are setting a new benchmark for space missions in the UAE, cementing the UAE’s position as a key player in this industry.”
13-year mission
The thirteen-year-mission mission includes six years for spacecraft development and a seven-year mission through the main asteroid belt beyond Mars. The MBR Explorer will seek to probe the origin and evolution of water-rich asteroids. It will also estimate the potential of using these asteroids as resources for future space exploration missions, determine geologic history and volatile content of multiple main belt asteroids, and measure temperatures and thermophysical properties on multiple asteroids to assess their surface evolution and volatile histories.
Preliminary design review
EMA team conducted a preliminary design review for EMA from February 19 to 21. This was a major milestone for the mission’s production phase to ensure the mission’s safety and success. The review aimed to ensure the readiness of the design to move to more detailed stages in the development process, verify its technical feasibility and schedule, and identify potential risks that may affect the project in the upcoming stages.
Space Means Business
As part of a series of local and international workshops, the UAE Space Agency recently hosted the ‘Space Means Business’ workshop. Attracting more than 200 participants from the UAE and abroad, the workshop shed light on EMA’s business opportunities, as well as the support and expertise that the mission is offering participants in the rapidly growing global space market.
A group of academic partners and hardware development partners are participating in the mission, including: Khalifa University, New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC) at the UAE University, the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), Yahsat, in addition to local and international partners from the private sector, and local and international organisations, institutions, and universities such as the Italian Space Agency, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University.
